Rabat – According to legislation that the German government Cabinet passed on Wednesday, Germany intends to relax citizenship laws, claiming that this project will help immigrants integrate more successfully and support an economy that is struggling due to a scarcity of competent workers.
The lower house of parliament, which is comfortably controlled by a socially liberal three-party coalition, still needs to approve the legislation that Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his cabinet passed. Depending on how soon that happens, it might come into force in January.
In place of the current requirements of eight or six years, the government intends to grant citizenship after five years in Germany, or three in the event of “special integration accomplishments.”
If at least one parent has been a legal resident for five years, as opposed to the current eight years, their children who were born in Germany would instantly become German citizens.
Additionally, there will no longer be any restrictions on having dual citizenship. Though there are rare exceptions, the majority of people who become German citizens from nations other than those in the European Union and Switzerland must renounce their prior nationality.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told journalists in Berlin, “We are creating a modern immigration law that does justice to our diverse society.” Applicants for citizenship “will no longer be forced to give up part of their identity,” she said, adding that the reform comes after years of discussions that “unfortunately were often marked by exclusion, resentment, and cheap propaganda.”
Faeser also cited Germany’s efforts to alleviate labor shortages in an increasing number of professions, and entice more talented workers to the continent’s largest economy.
“We are in the middle of a worldwide competition for the best people,” she said, adding that Germany will manage to attract them only “if they can fully become part of our society in the foreseeable future, with all democratic rights” that German nationals enjoy.
In most situations, applicants will need to demonstrate their ability to sustain their families on their own without the aid of the state. According to the new legislation, “antisemitic, racist, or other inhumanly motivated actions” are grounds for denial to become citizens.
According to the government, 14% of the population, or more than 12 million of the 84.4 million people living there, do not hold German citizenship, and of those, around 5.3 million have been in Germany for at least ten years. Based on this, Germany has a much lower naturalization rate than the EU as a whole.
Last year, roughly 168,500 individuals received German citizenship, the highest number since 2002.
The chance of a quicker naturalization is “the best incentive for successful integration,” according to Faeser.
According to senior conservative legislator Andrea Lindholz, the government “is sending completely the wrong signals” at a time when local government agencies are having a hard time managing a “massive influx” of new immigrants, and its first focus should be to lower “irregular immigration.”
The Union opposes lifting limitations on dual citizenship and cutting down on wait times. “Integration takes time, and is more than work and language,” Lindholz said.
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